Items such as maps are increasingly catalogued in electronic databases. In addition, more and more maps are becoming available. There is a need for apparatus and methods for locating maps of interest from among the maps included in large collections. Current approaches for searching for maps of interest include text-based searches and map-based searches. Both of these approaches have significant limitations that may result in a map of interest not being retrieved or being buried in a large collection of less-relevant maps. Similar issues occur when attempting to locate other items that are associated with locations. Such other items can include geospatial data sets.